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Education: Graduate of O’Fallon Twp. High School; MBA from SIUE with concentration in accounting

Occupation: retired banker

Political party: non-partisan election

Office sought: Alderman O’Fallon ward 2

Campaign e-mail: None

Previously held offices: 10 years on O’Fallon Grade School District 90 School Board

What qualifies you for this position?

“I am a hard working, independent decision maker with an analytical mind and I will know all of the facts regarding every issue before I cast a vote. With that knowledge, I will make the best decisions for the quality of life for O’Fallon residents. My character is based on total honesty and openness. My education and work experience support my ability to serve as alderman. I have a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting and I worked in the banking and finance industry for 32 years, where I developed sound business practices and an in depth knowledge of strategic planning, budgeting, financial management and investment portfolio management. I am financially conservative and well qualified to make the best decisions to assure your money is spent in an affordable manner for all residents.”

What is the top issue in your race, and how would you address it?

“O’Fallon’s city council is now considering leasing our municipally owned water and sewer system to a privately owned, for profit corporation. I am against this. Presently, the city provides good service at affordable costs. We should not risk potential degradation in service and higher costs by entering into a lease agreement with a private, for profit corporation. Independent surveys show that the cost to consumers is 33 percent higher nationwide when water and sewer service is purchased from a for profit corporation and there are numerous examples of degradation in service. Locally, Belleville, Shiloh and Fairview Heights purchase water service from a for profit corporation at higher rates than O’Fallon’s municipally owned water service charges to its residents. Eighty-five percent of the nations water systems and 95 percent of the nations sewer systems are municipally owned community systems. There are good reasons for this and there are no valid reasons for considering the lease of O’Fallon’s water and sewer system. Funding of future projects should come from traditional funding sources, not from the lease of our water and sewer system.”